


truth

by sangi



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-09
Updated: 2009-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-13 15:45:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3387326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sangi/pseuds/sangi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On an Earth Kingdom ship, the widow of Avatar Aang makes her way to Kyoshi Island.</p>
            </blockquote>





	truth

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in 2009, posted again here for archival reasons.

1. _so I weigh my anchor_

The soft sea breeze twirls her long hair in the empty air behind her head, letting the raven locks mix together and muss up the straight hair that had been meticulously combed. Seafoam eyes remain closed as the scent of salt water reaches her nose, and her feet shift uncomfortably on the hard iron deck of the ship.

She is dressed in green, as are all the other people on the ship in the background. The earthbender’s attire is slightly nicer than everyone else, though; soft cotton that is ironed to neatness, although wrinkles have already appeared in the dark fabric.

A long sigh escapes the girl’s mouth. Lethargic eyelids open to expose misty eyes.

On an Earth Kingdom ship, the widow of Avatar Aang makes her way to Kyoshi Island.   
  


* * *

 

  
2\. _and gently slip away  
_

When she steps off the boat, barefoot, the first thing she does is dig her toes into the ground. The earth here is different – purer, softer, better. Toph can feel all the vibrations around her so much clearer than when she is in the Fire Nation, or even the Earth Kingdom. The earthbender takes a step forward carefully, feeling the ripples in the dirt-sand.

A smile curls her mouth into a delicate bow, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She can feel several figures approaching from the west and settles herself for their arrival.

Soon enough, three bright faces that she can only feel but not see crest the horizon, heading toward her. One’s step is slow and steady, another’s impatient, and the last lightly touching the ground as if only floating across it.   


Katara is the first to reach her, her quicker steps granting her first access to Toph. She wraps her arms around her securely for several moments. “Welcome to Kyoshi Island,” she whispers, “Toph. It’s so nice to see you again…” her voice trails off as she backs away to see bangs covering the earthbender’s eyes.

“Yes,” Toph says, feeling the vibrations of the couple now only a few feet away. “It’s nice to see you too.”

* * *

 

 

3\. _I’ve been going up and down_

It was decided several days ago that Toph would stay with Katara, who currently lived by herself in a small home in the village. The room she had been given was spacey – when the window was open, the wind would twirl a familiar path through the air, cooling the hot summer air down.

Currently Toph is leaning against the window, eyes staring blankly into the distance as she listens to the sound of children playing on the ground below. She can hear the mixed, low voices of women as they make their way through the village, presumably Kyoshi Warriors on their way to train.  


Her face scrunches daintily in a grimace of disgust, moving away from the window and farther into the room. A knock sounds resolutely at the door downstairs.

Finding the annoyance of the perpetual knocking a welcome distraction from her thoughts, she slips downstairs quickly and opens the door before the unknown person could continue to knock. With her feet on wooden floors, she couldn’t make a clear reading of who stood outside.

“Hey, Toph,” the stranger says, and she automatically recognizes the voice, almost cringing.

It is Sokka at the door.

“Katara isn’t here,” she says succinctly, standing in the doorway so he cannot enter. “She’ll be back before dinner.” And the door slams abruptly in his face.

_ You know I wasn’t here to see Katara,  _ he thinks as he turns around and faces the bustling street. Slowly he makes his way into the crowd.

* * *

 

 

4\. _and wonder if she’s still around_

Dinner at Suki’s house is a mostly quiet affair. She is the only one left in her family, so she and Sokka are the only ones who live and eat there. Katara and Toph show up a few minutes early, the earthbender standing a bit off to the side as the other girl knocks loudly on the door and enters.

“Hello?” She calls into the house as Toph follow her inside, feeling the presence of two people in the kitchen. Her green eyes rotate east towards the kitchen, and sniffing delicately, can smell dinner cooking.   


She begins to move to the kitchen and the waterbender follows her after catching on. They arrive at a scene of chaos, many smells surrounding her, many sounds reaching her ears. “Hey Suki, Sokka,” Katara calls out from behind her as they move farther into the kitchen.

“Hey, Katara. Dinner will be done in a minute. Do you mind helping me take this in?” She lifts one side of a large dish and Katara lifts the other. Before Toph can protest, she and Sokka are left alone in the kitchen.

It isn’t long before she feels the inevitable steps in her direction from the man she had been so diligently avoiding up until now. “Toph,” Sokka says approachably, quietly, more mature than the last time he had tried to proposition her. “Please, Toph, just consider-“   


But his words are quickly cut off. “You already had your chance. You should’ve taken it.” Her seafoam eyes close as she laughs a bit bitterly. “Besides, you have Suki now.”

She can feel the scowl forming on his face, his blue eyes scrunching in distaste to her words. “You know that if you even hinted so, I would come to you,” he pleads with her. “Besides, Aang isn’t here now, you don’t have any other responsibilities…”

By the time his sentence is finished, her eyes are closed, her mouth twisted down in a frown. She can feel a strand of hair tickling her neck.

“You had your chance,” Toph says resolutely, before abruptly turning and leaving the room, leaving a confused Water Tribesman in her wake.

* * *

 

 

5\. _fall from grace  
_   
Wind blows gently into the room; the window is open.    


The instant that her misty eyes open she knows this, yet she makes no move to get up and close it. The chill that it brings into the hot, stuffy room is quite welcome. But after a gust brings leaves into the room and scatters them on her bed, Toph slowly makes her way over the window to close it. She runs her hands delicately over the wood, feeling the softness of the cedar.

“Toph!” Someone whispers from below. Automatically on the defensive, she shifts into her earthbending stance before realizing that she is in no danger. “Toph!” The voice calls softly again. This time she recognizes the familiar tenor.

“Go away,” she hisses into the eternal darkness. “Leave me alone!”     


“Not until you come down here and talk to me,” he warns.  

Toph is downstairs in less than one minute, standing irately on the porch, waiting for him to speak. She makes an imperious motion with her hand that he takes to mean ‘continue’.

So he does. “I asked Suki to marry me today,” he says, in a low, husky voice, blue eyes watching her annoyed face. She doesn’t move, just simply stands there, waiting. “She said no.”

There are still no moves from the girl, and Sokka is desperate by now. “Don’t you understand, Toph? We can finally-“

“This changes nothing. I loved you once,” she says, “but you lost your chance.” She ends, eyes closed, head leaning limply against the door.   


Sokka’s blue bemused eyes watch as she lifts her head, and before she can say anything he gently tilts her chin up with his fingers and lowers his mouth to hers, merely touching their lips together. When she doesn’t move, standing completely still, he moves his mouth slowly against hers.   


And in a flash, she can remember everything, the kisses and the nights and the darkness she had felt when he left her. The darkness that she had filled with Aang. _Oh, Aang,_ she thinks desperately, and pushes Sokka away before he can wrap his arms around her waist.

He blinks. “Leave me alone!” She spits at him, “This changes nothing!” The look that the earthbender sends him is withering and somewhat hurt.

She walks inside, closing the door after her, leaving him staring at the wood. “This changes nothing,” she chokes out brokenly, sliding to the floor.   


* * *

 

 

6\. _another town, another dream_

The next morning, as the sun solemnly rises over the water, Sokka watches as the widow of Avatar Aang leaves the same way that she came. The Earth Nation ship was hard-pressed to leave on so soon a basis, but she had insisted. He had rather thought she would.   


Her figure rests lightly against the railing of the boat, facing him. Although he knows she cannot see him, he salutes her. The wind rustles her hair, letting it flow and curl in the air. Smiling crookedly, he watches the boat leave the harbor safely, and then turns around and walks slowly back to town.

_ We’ll see each other again,  _ he silently promises, smile now slight tarnished by bitterness, as he turns one last time to see the boat disappear on the horizon. _We’ll see each other again._

 


End file.
